Student Involvement Fair

Happy Labor Day to all of our Deac families who have the day off today (and my gratitude to all those in all the critical professions where you don’t get the day off!)  Administrative offices at Wake are closed today, but I scheduled this to pre-post because there is something important happening on Tuesday: the Student Involvement Fair.

On Tuesday, September 6th from 3:30 – 6 pm, the Student Involvement Fair will take place on Manchester Plaza (aka Mag Quad).  This event is billed as: “Meet students, student leaders, and local non-profit agency representatives. Learn more about getting involved in student organizations on campus as well as opportunities in the local Winston-Salem community.”

What this really is is a way for your Deacs to find some meaningful involvement on campus. And they should take advantage of it.

The setup is simple: the registered student organizations on campus have tables in a large square on the whole Mag Quad, and students can walk by and look at each table and what that club or organization does. Each table typically has a sign in sheet for students to join that group’s distro list, and once on it they will begin getting email notifications about events. It’s a great way to broaden your social horizon and find some new friends by taking part in activities you already like – or trying something new.

Pro tip: students would be wise to make what I refer to as a “reconnaissance lap” before they start signing up on email lists. The reason I say this is because if students start at one end and work their way around, they may be temped to sign up for some organizations in the beginning – only to find that once they get around to the other side, there are groups they feel even stronger about.  If they sign up for too many, their email inbox could be flooded with 20, 30, etc. emails from different groups, making everything seem overwhelming. Upperclassmen who have ‘been there, done that’ tell me that students should go for the top 7-10 groups maybe, but not to go overboard.

This is not just for freshmen, by the way, though they would certainly benefit. This is for any student of any age to find some groups to join.

Note: the rain date is Wednesday, September 7, from 3 – 5 pm.